Spring Showers
by smartybear2
Summary: Akane has a guilty pleasure that she is surprised to find she has in common with Ranma. Just a gentle, one-shot fic.


SPRING SHOWERS - A Ranma 1/2 fan fic by CBear

All usual disclaimers apply. :) This was the very first fanfic I ever wrote in1996. It's on my defunct still archived in Oocities, but I'm publishing it here before it disappears forever. I hope you all enjoy it.

It was one of those gray days, heavy with the smell of rain hanging in the air. The world seemed all gray and green and brown, with the first leaves pushing just outside their winter shelters, giving the whole garden an eerie, fairy-like look.

Akane looked out of her window and smelled the rain. She had always liked days like these. Spring always brought out the urge to just drink in nature and let herself be embraced by the mist enveloping the yard. Smiling, she quickly dressed, knowing that nobody inside the house would be awake at this hour - not even Kasumi.

If she got lucky, it might even rain. Akane loved the rain.

Not those violent autumn storms, of course, just those gentle spring showers that the clouds of today were promising to bring. She loved the sensation of rain running down her cheeks and placing icy kisses on her skin - it was freezing while it lasted, but she always made sure to soak in a warm bath afterwards so she wouldn't get sick. She always felt like some sort of woodland fairy when she was out there in the misty gray morning, dancing silently in the rain, raising her arms with the trees and the flowers, welcoming the spring.

She giggled quietly at her thoughts. Everyone else would probably think that she was a lunatic, thinking this way.

Silently, Akane padded down the stairs, shivering in excitement and the slight chill. She could feel the rain - it was close, it was coming… and she just had to be there. Right at the edge of the pond, sitting on the rock, face upturned to welcome the first drops of the shower…

But there was already someone there.

Even if she couldn't make out the perky pig-tail sprouting from his nape, the red silk shirt and the black pants quickly tipped her off. But - this early? Ranma was never up this early on a weekend. And it was a Saturday today. What was he doing here?

She felt a sudden pang of disappointment at not being able to do her ritual. Of course she couldn't do that with Ranma watching! He would think it was just too weird… Turning as quietly as she could, using a technique Tofu-sensei taught her, she walked back towards the house…

And stopped as she heard him call her name. "Akane?"

She turned again and walked toward the rock where he sat. "Ranma." She smiled at him, the joy of the morning not quite dampened by the postponement of her spring rain dance.

He blinked twice at her, staring. Her smile dimmed after a few moments of his staring and melted into an expression of bewilderment. "What is it, Ranma? Something wrong with my face?" she asked, putting a hand to her cheek and feeling for any weird bumps or spots. There were none. "Ranma?"

"Uh…" he began, seeming to shake himself mentally. "Hi, Akane, what are you doing down so early?" he asked, returning her smile.

It felt like sunshine, even if a rumble of thunder sounded in the distance.

"Maybe I should be asking you that," she said, sitting on the cemented edge of the pond in front of him, looking up at his face curiously. "After all, it is a Saturday morning… you always sleep in on Saturdays." Their eyes locked for a moment or two, and in spite of the cool morning, she could feel her cheeks suddenly heat up.

They broke the stare, Ranma looking up towards the sky; Akane focusing her eyes on an umbrella leaning against the rock beside him. She started in surprise. Evidently, he had been planning to be here for quite some time.

"I… uh… I…" He cleared his throat and she looked up at him. Was it her imagination, or was he blushing? In the dim light, she really couldn't tell. She saw him hesitate, fight an internal battle with himself, and lose.

She waited. She didn't mind the silence. It was beautiful out there anyway, Ranma or no Ranma. But right now, it was more so.

"It's going to rain," he suddenly said, breaking the silence.

"I know that," Akane said, her voice reflecting a combination of puzzlement and amusement. "But you aren't out here to discuss the weather with me, are you?"

"Well… um… actually, I am," he replied, with face to the sky. "I love spring showers. When I saw the sky this morning when I woke up, I thought I'd come down here and… uh… I used to love sitting in the rain, especially in the spring. When we went on training trips, Pop would always be huddled in the tent while I would spend much time sitting in the rain and feeling the water run down my face and… uh…" He paused, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. "This is just too weird."

Her eyes widened like saucers. "You too?" she asked eagerly, happy that he was sharing such an unusual quirk with her. "I came out here to welcome the spring the way I always do. I've been doing this since I was a little girl."

They sat in a companionable silence, waiting for the rain. The air seemed heavier with moisture, and she could almost see tiny dewdrops forming in his hair. At the thought of impending water, she started and turned to him, curiously tipping her head to one side as she watched him.

"But, Ranma, I thought you hated the rain? What about…"

He winced. "My curse?" he finished, sighing. "This is one of the things I miss the most about being normal," he explained. "Just as much as I miss swimming and wading in the water and… all those kinds of stuff. It really irritates the hell out of me that I can't even take off my shirt when I'm caught in a spring shower or I'm at the beach."

Thunder rumbled once more.

Akane, seeing Ranma's wistful expression - an expression which he rarely allowed to show on his face, impulsively lay her head on his lap in a comforting gesture. She knew something in her would probably die if she could not do her spring shower ritual at least once every year. She felt Ranma tense for a moment, but as she attempted to raise her head, she suddenly felt his hand rest gently on top of her hair, fingers brushing her forehead.

"It's not so bad, really," Ranma said, strangely enough trying to comfort her instead of the other way around. "Until I can find a cure, I guess I just have to put off walking in the rain for a while."

As if on cue, the first few drops of rain stung the back of Akane's neck.

"It's the rain!" she cried gleefully, bolting up and raising her hands to the sky. It was always a thrill to feel the first few drops of rain kissing her skin, tickling her face, and… Suddenly remembering, she turned to Ranma and saw him move to open his umbrella. Biting her lip thoughtfully, she hesitated then put her hand on his just as he was pushing the umbrella open.

"Wha -" Ranma turned to her in surprise. It still wasn't raining hard enough to activate his curse, but he knew that he would be turning into a girl within the next minute.

Akane smiled her sunshiny smile that never failed to send Ranma into a spell of bemusement. "I don't mind if you don't," she told him, pulling him off from the rock.

Rain began to pour in harder now, and Ranma felt a familiar tingle as he began to change into a girl. But… it did feel good to feel the rain running down her skin and tickle her face… and to feel Akane's hand in hers as she stood there raising her face to the heavens, eyes closed in bliss…

Then suddenly Akane opened her eyes and turned to her. "I never thought I'd ever find anyone who would enjoy walking under a spring shower as much as I…" She smiled down into Ranma-chan's eyes then suddenly blushed when she saw an expression in them that she couldn't quite understand...

Ranma sighed a sigh that sounded like a cross between happiness and frustration. She suddenly squeezed Akane's hand and tugged. "Let's walk…"

Akane nodded then paused. "Ranma - you never did tell me what woke you up… I don't think you'd be able to wake up on your own short of an earthquake."

Ranma-chan scratched her head in bewilderment. "Actually, I woke up when I fell off the futon thinking that Pop crowded me off… but he was all the way on the other side when I looked." She shrugged. "Come on, Akane, before everyone else wakes up!"

And the two of them hand in hand disappeared under the blanket of the spring shower as they walked in the rain, away from the house.

From her window, Kasumi watched them, smiling wisely a she stood up to run some hot bath water for both of them.

\- fin -


End file.
